Correctional Services Commissioner Outlines Proposals to Improve State
Prison System in Address to Citizens Crime Commission of New York City

New York State Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Brian Fischer
outlined proposals aimed at improving the State’s prison system, from
correctional facility closures to sentencing reforms, in an address to a
Citizens Crime Commission of New York City breakfast today.

In remarks delivered at the Mutual of America Building at 320 Park Avenue
in Manhattan, Commissioner Fischer highlighted the State’s success
in reducing its crime rate and prison population over the last decade. He
also emphasized the resulting need for proposals advanced by Governor David
A. Paterson to allow the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) to be
managed in a more sensible and efficient way.

“Our success means the time has come for major changes in the prison
system,” Commissioner Fischer said. “Governor Paterson has rightly
recognized this as an opportunity to save taxpayers significant money by
allowing me to manage the prison system more intelligently.”

Governor Paterson’s 2009-10 Executive Budget, currently under negotiation
with the State Legislature, proposes closing correctional camps and some
prison annexes at a time when court and legislative mandates require enhanced
and expanded treatment and services for sex offenders and inmates with mental
illness. “By closing these facilities and saving taxpayers nearly
$30 million a year, we can address those new priorities,” Commissioner
Fischer said. “And we can achieve closure with virtually no layoffs
... Now more than ever, we need to bring State government’s expenses
in line with its shrinking revenues.”

Commissioner Fischer detailed the extensive in-prison substance abuse treatment
programs the Department offers in light of ongoing public debate about reforming
New York’s drug laws. He noted that more than 30,000 offenders –
about a third of those who spent time incarcerated - participated in Department
treatment programs last year alone. And he discussed the variety of ways
the State is working to reduce recidivism by better preparing offenders
for their return to society – including the planned opening this year
of “reentry units” at Hudson (Columbia County) and Bayview (Manhattan)
Correctional Facilities, following the first two such units last year and
in 2007 at Orleans Correctional Facility in Western New York.

Governor Paterson’s budget proposal would also implement graduated
sanctions for minor parole violations, expand eligibility for DOCS’
successful Shock Incarceration program and create a limited six-month time
credit allowance for offenders – including some violent offenders
- who display good behavior and achieve enhanced program participation during
incarceration.

“These proposals will not only free up more prison space, but will
also provide incentives for offenders to improve themselves and, in the
process, keep our prisons safer,” Commissioner Fischer said. “These
efforts capitalize on and expand our successful programs while helping reduce
the need for expensive prison beds.”

Commissioner Fischer also urged support for another Sentencing Commission
proposal that would create fixed sentences for most crimes.

“Determinate sentencing addresses the serious problem of disparity
of sentences,” the Commissioner said. “It also provides offenders
with a clear understanding that to earn time off their court-imposed sentence,
they must complete mandated treatment programs as well as avoid serious
disciplinary problems … This fosters the concept of accepting personal
responsibility, a concept often ignored by too many young offenders.”

The Citizens Crime Commission of New York City is an independent, non-profit,
non-partisan organization working to reduce crime and to improve the criminal
justice system in the community. The Commission played a significant role
in developing the crime-fighting policies that led to New York’s historic
recent reduction in crime.